


Blood and Tea

by octoberland



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Assault, Domestic Violence, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Tumblr Prompt, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 20:27:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1239712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octoberland/pseuds/octoberland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy tries to save someone. Loki just wanted a first date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood and Tea

**Author's Note:**

> This is for an anon story request I got a couple of days ago for the anon’s birthday. They wanted a story in which Darcy gets roughed up by muggers and Loki rescues her and takes care of her. I have a hard time with damsel in distress stories so I tried to find a balance here that would satisfy both the anon and myself. Hopefully it works. Not beta’d because I wanted to get it up asap for the birthday person.
> 
> Please be aware that there are graphic descriptions of violence and injuries. There is character death (not Loki or Darcy of course). And there is mention of domestic violence. 
> 
> No copyright infringement intended. Marvel owns everything including my soul.

Darcy sat at the bus stop, tapping her foot in time to the music blaring from her iPod. It was late and the street was empty save for a few plastic bags swirling around in the wind. She hugged her satchel tighter to her chest and looked longingly down the road for the bus. When she didn’t see it she clicked her iPod to check the time.

_Damn_ , she thought. The bus was already twenty minutes late and there wasn’t another one scheduled till the morning.

Grudgingly, she shut off her music and pulled out her cell phone. As she scrolled through her contacts searching for a taxi number she thought she heard someone yelling. She pulled out her earbuds and listened.

“Hello?” she called out in a not too loud voice. The only answer she got was the howling of the wind so she shrugged her shoulders and put her focus back on her phone. She was mid dial when she heard a woman’s shriek come from around the corner followed by shouting.

Darcy froze, fingers hovering above her phone. The sounds were faint, but distinctive: two voices arguing; One, a woman who was crying, and the other a man. Darcy couldn’t make out what he was saying but his tone was unmistakable. It had the same sharp edge she’d heard her father use on the nights he drank. On those same nights, her mother had become a punching bag, both verbally and physically. No one knew it, but that’s why Darcy had started carrying around a Taser. The first person she’d ever used it on was her own flesh and blood, the man who’d raised her, whom she’d called father.

Slowly, Darcy rose from the bench she was sitting on, simultaneously slinging her satchel up and over her head so it rested across her body. She thought about calling 911 but decided she’d better see what was going on first. Maybe it was just a regular fight. Maybe it wasn’t anything like what she’d seen growing up.

She walked towards the sound of the couple, careful to keep her steps quiet. Their argument grew louder the closer she got and then Darcy heard a loud thwack! It was the unmistakable sound of skin striking skin followed by the woman’s pleas for the man to stop.

Darcy’s heart felt like it jumped in her chest and she halted her steps. She looked down at the phone in her hand and though she knew she should just call the cops she decided instead to pull out her Taser. Images of her mother bloody and bruised flashed through her mind.

_Your mother’s lucky to have you. One more minute and you’d be sitting in a funeral home instead of this office._

No, Darcy couldn’t wait. She edged along the dirty brick wall, Taser in hand, and when she rounded the corner she could see an alley across the way. She crept across the street, hoping that she’d see the headlights of a car, or see someone else coming out of work late, but she had no such luck. Not even the bus came like it was supposed to.

When she got to the edge of the alley she saw a man and a woman about halfway down. The man had the woman pushed up against the wall. Darcy could see that her clothes were torn and that she was scared. He was striking her and calling her names and Darcy could just make out the blood on her face and could easily hear her crying and begging.

Darcy took a deep breath and stepped into the alley.

“Back off,” she said in a shaky voice. She held the Taser out at arm’s length aimed at the man. Her hands trembled and her heart was hammering in her chest. She edged closer to him wanting to make sure the charged coils would reach him when she pulled the trigger.

“Whoa,” he said. He stepped back with his arms raised up in defeat.

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. “Come here,” she said to the lady, motioning with one hand. She kept her eyes on the man the whole time. He looked like any other guy walking down the street. He wore a flannel shirt and a hoodie, and jeans and boots. Darcy wondered briefly how someone so normal looking could be such an asshole.

Then he smiled, wide and knowing.

“Shit,” said Darcy. She knew that smile, had seen it on enough bad guys to know you were in trouble once they smiled like that.

Without hesitating, Darcy pressed the button on the Taser. The coils shot out and struck the guy right in the chest. He fell instantly. His body spasmed as the current ran through him and he made a strange gurgling sound. Darcy dropped the Taser and turned to the woman who was still backed up against the wall.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said. She looped her arm through the woman’s and tried to lead her out of the alley but the woman wouldn’t budge. Darcy looked up at her. The woman was tall compared to Darcy, frail looking and thin. Her face was all cut up and her nose was bleeding but what struck Darcy the most was her stare. Darcy followed her gaze and her jaw dropped when she saw what the woman was looking at.

Three men stood at the alley’s opening, blocking their escape route. One of them was large and burly and the other two of average build. Darcy looked back down the alley but there was nothing; just dumpsters and trash and some old wooden crates. She dug her cell phone out of her pocket but she was so scared that her fingers fumbled and she dropped it. She bent to pick it up. That’s when she felt the first blow.

One of the men, she didn’t know which, kneed her in the face as she bent over. She felt the roughness of his jeans first and then, for a moment, everything went black and she thought she was going to pass out. Then she felt the warm rush of blood from her nose and she could feel the sharp sting of her lip where her teeth had cut it. She moaned and held her hand up to her face to try and stem the bleeding while at the same time stumbling backwards.

She heard laughter above her and then felt someone shove her roughly. Darcy toppled easily, like an egg stood on end, and as she lay there waiting for the next blow she thought of Humpty Dumpty and wondered if anyone would put her back together again. But the next blow never came.

“The fuck…” she heard one of the men say.

Darcy opened her eyes. At first she couldn’t make out much more than shadows and light. She didn’t realize it but she’d been crying, and what little light there was from the streets glinted off the tears stuck to her lashes creating a sort of hazy kaleidoscope effect. She blinked a few times to try and clear her vision, then she tried to rise but she was nauseous and woozy and fell back down.

She heard fighting, heard the hard smack of fists meeting flesh and flesh meeting concrete. Then, the sound of bones crunching and a scream that she thought sure would raise the dead if not the police. She opened her eyes again and this time wiped at them with her hand. When her vision finally cleared she could barely believe what she was seeing.

There stood Loki, God of Mischief, displaced from the throne, banished from Asgard; liar, trickster…warrior. He was anger and hate and moved like a storm in the small space.

Before she could summon the strength to protest Loki buried his knife to the hilt in the man’s chest. The man grunted and then let out a long breath in a rattling wheeze. His eyes went wide, then drifted closed. When his body went limp Loki pushed him down to the ground and pulled out his knife. Darcy saw that the other men were also lying on the ground. Some of their limbs were spread at odd angles and she could see blood seeping out onto the pavement.

“What in the Nine were you thinking?” Loki rushed over to her and gingerly lifted her to a sitting position.

Darcy winced. She could feel something sharp sticking into her side and her hand hurt from scraping it when she fell.

"Where’s the woman?’ asked Darcy as she glanced around.

“She fled,” said Loki.

“She was hurt,” Darcy started to stand, to try and go after her, but Loki stilled her.

“ _You’re_ hurt,” he said.

Darcy tried to wave him off but then they both heard movement behind them. The man she had tasered was coming around.

“Do not watch,” Loki instructed as he stood and went over to the man.

Darcy wanted to stop him, knew that she should, but she just didn’t have the strength. She closed her eyes but there was nothing she could do to escape the sound of Loki’s knife sinking into flesh. She heard a sound like fabric ripping, a grunt, another wheeze, and then silence. Then she felt Loki back at her side, kneeling beside her.

“Fury’s going to have your head on a platter,” she said as she looked up at him.

“Only if we tell him.” She would have thought he were making light of the situation if it were not for the grave look on his face.

“Did you have to kill them?” she asked as she looked around at the carnage.

“Would you rather I had left them loose upon the world?” Loki brushed back a strand of her hair. “I assure you, Darcy; those men had naught but ill intent in their hearts. Besides, I am already damned. What’s one more life,” he paused and looked around, “or four, cut short by my hand?”

“I will lose no sleep over their demise,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her up. “And neither should you.”

“How did you even find me?” she asked as he walked them out of the alley.

“I may have threatened the night guard into pointing me in the right direction. You left before we could speak.”

“Speak? Did we have a meeting scheduled?”

Loki smiled half-heartedly. “No. But I had hoped to change that.”

Darcy looked at him, confused. They stood in the middle of the street as she stared at him and Loki sighed.

“One thousand years and you are the only creature to vex me, Miss Lewis.” He ushered them on, towards a car parked across the way.

“It is the weekend,” he said. “Is it not customary for people to spend time together on weekends?”

He moved her around to the passenger side and swiped his thumb over a small keypad.

“You wanted to hang out with me this weekend?” asked Darcy as the door swung open and Loki shifted her inside.

He knelt down and pulled the seatbelt across her lap. “I believe they call it a date,” corrected Loki.

Darcy gulped. “You were going to ask me out on a date?”

“Yes,” said Loki, his eyes cast down and voice quiet.

“Shit,” said Darcy.

Loki looked up. “Is it really such a terrible thought?” he asked.

“No, sorry,” Darcy shook her head. “I left my cell phone back there. And the Taser.” She settled her satchel on the floor of the vehicle. “I assume we aren’t calling the police either?” she asked.

“You assume correctly,” he said. “I shall retrieve your items.”

Darcy looked around the car as Loki went back to the alley to get her stuff. It was brand new, all sleek lines and shine, and smelled of leather and whatever else new cars were made of.

“Do you even know how to drive?” she asked when he returned. He tossed her items in his glove compartment and then smiled brilliantly at her.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Darcy admired his silhouette as he buckled himself in and turned the ignition. The car purred to life. Then he gunned it and they peeled out of there. In his skilled hands they weaved in and out of downtown traffic and rounded corners as though the city were one giant racetrack and Loki master of the road. They passed the turn for the hospital.

Darcy pointed at the sign as it disappeared from view. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“Do you mean why am I not taking you to that poor excuse of a healing establishment?”

“Uh, yeah,” said Darcy. “That.”

“Because I’ve no desire to see you perish anytime soon. I’m taking you home.”

Darcy saw his grip on the steering wheel tighten.

“Were I not banished from Asgard I would take you to the healing rooms there.” He continued.

“It’s okay,” said Darcy. She placed her hand lightly on his arm. “You saved me.”

Loki relaxed. He looked over and smiled down at her warmly.

They arrived at her place quickly and Darcy didn’t even bother to ask how he knew where she lived. Instead she felt embarrassment. Her apartment was basically a studio. Just one room big enough for a bed and a dresser, and there was a small bathroom and a galley kitchen.

Loki helped her to the front door of her building and she found herself glad for once that there was no doorman. She didn’t know how she would explain her injuries and she knew it would be easy for someone to infer the wrong scenario with Loki guiding her.

When they reached her apartment she fished her keys out of her bag. “My place is a mess,” she said.

“I don’t care.” Loki reached for her keys and took them from her. Her hands were shaking so hard that she couldn’t get the key in the lock.

After the door was open Loki picked her up and carried her across the threshold.

“Moving fast, I see,” Darcy joked but Loki didn’t understand the joke and looked down at her quizzically.

“Never mind,” she said. “Bad joke.”

He kicked the door shut behind them and carried her into the main room which served as both her bedroom and living room. Gently, he set her down on the bed and flicked on the bedside lamp. It was the first time he’d gotten a good look at her that evening and Darcy could see his face tense.

“That bad, huh?” she asked as she probed her face with her uninjured hand. She could feel that her lip was swollen and could feel the dried blood that caked her chin and mouth.

“Still want that date?” she joked.

“Yes,” replied Loki, “but there are more pressing matters at present.”

He pulled her satchel from over her shoulder and set the bag down on her floor. Then, carefully, he took her coat off. Underneath she was wearing a sweater and scarf and another shirt and bra under that.

“Why must you wear so many layers?” he asked as he tugged her scarf from around her neck.

“Because if I don’t men just stare at my boobs. Darcy Lewis goes out the window and these two take over,” she said as she pointed from one breast to the other.

“Well, they are lovely,” he said.

Darcy smacked him lightly on the arm.

“But they are nothing without you,” he finished.

Darcy blushed.

After he finished pulling the scarf from around her neck he tugged on the hem of her sweater. “May I?” he asked. “I need to see the extent of your injuries.”

Darcy nodded yes. She kept her eyes cast down, feeling shy all of a sudden. Slowly, Loki lifted her sweater and pulled it over her head, careful not to take her shirt with it.

“Do you have any pain?” he asked.

“Here,” she said, pointing to her side.

“May I?” he asked again, tugging on her shirt. Darcy found it incredibly endearing that he kept asking permission.

“Yes,” she said, nodding.

He lifted the edge of her shirt up to look and Darcy held it in place to help him see. There was an angry red welt on her side. Darcy could see it reflected in the mirror above her dresser. She figured she must have landed on something when she fell.

“This may hurt,” he warned. He felt around the bruise, checking to see if he could feel a broken rib, testing her level of pain in case there was a ruptured organ. Darcy took a deep breath and steeled herself but after a quick examination he determined that the injury was superficial. She would have a bad bruise and nothing more.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said. He rose and took his suit coat and tie off, draping them across her dresser. Then he went to the kitchen. She heard water running, and the click of a burner turning on, as well as him rooting around her drawers and cabinets.

While she waited she pulled her boots off and scooted back onto the bed. She wondered at the fact that Loki, crazy alien god Loki, was in her kitchen this very second, and apparently keen to wait on her hand and foot.

When he returned he held a platter with a steaming mug of tea, a damp washcloth, and an ice pack from her freezer. He set it down on her dresser and then sat next to her on the bed.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he handed her the tea.

“My head hurts,” she admitted.

Loki tilted her face towards the light. “You weren’t wearing your glasses?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Contacts.”

“Good.” He held a hand first over one eye and then the other, checking her pupil dilation.

“How do you know all this?” she asked.

Loki’s gaze grew distant as he recalled a memory. “The first thing my mother taught me about magick was not to rely on it.” He focused back on Darcy.

“I have never felt as impotent as I do tonight,” he said.

Darcy knew he was referring to the fact that in addition to his banishment he was also stripped of all magickal abilities. It was part of his punishment for being a traitor.

“Hey,” she said. “Hand me that washcloth?” She set her mug down on the nightstand. “I don’t think blood and tea will mix very well.”

Loki handed her the wet cloth along with a small basin of water she hadn’t noticed before. Darcy sat up and as best she could she washed the blood from her nose and mouth. She could still taste copper in the back of her throat so as soon as she was done she took a big swig of the cooling tea.

“Better?” he asked.

Darcy nodded as she looked at him over the rim of the mug. Then she got a glint in her eye. She placed the mug back on the nightstand.

“You know, there’s another Earth custom you may not be aware of.”

“Oh?” said Loki.

“Kissing booboos,” said Darcy as she settled back against the pillows.

Loki arched an eyebrow.

“Sure,” said Darcy. “It’s a scientific fact. I’m sure there are papers on it and shit.”

“I’m sure,” said Loki, smirking.

Loki scooted closer to her, his look turning serious.

“Where does it hurt?” he asked. His voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

“Here,” she said, pointing at her nose.

Loki braced his arms on either side of her and leaned down. He kissed her lightly on the nose and Darcy giggled.

“Here,” she said, holding up her scraped hand. Loki leaned in and kissed her palm tenderly.

“And here,” she said, pointing at her bottom lip.

Loki leaned down so that there was barely an inch between them. The air was filled with a sudden tension, a spark which Darcy had been denying. But when his mouth brushed against hers there was no more denying it. With the gentleness of an overly considerate lover Loki kissed her and when he pulled away they each sucked in a shaky breath.

“H-here,” Darcy stuttered, pointing at her side.

Loki scooted down the bed so that he could reach her side, never taking his eyes off her the entire time, not even as he lifted her shirt. It wasn’t until he leaned down to kiss the bruise on her side that he broke eye contact. Darcy swore she felt the briefest flicker of his tongue tasting her skin and without thinking she wound her hand in his hair, caressing him.

Loki looked up, eyes heavy lidded but cautious too.

“Stay with me,” she whispered.

And he did. He helped her to the bathroom when she requested it; gave her privacy to change when she requested that too. They ordered food to be delivered and he even tried feeding her but she laughed and waved it off saying she had to draw the line somewhere. He even held the ice pack for her while they watched some comedy on her little TV.

When she finally slept he curled his body around hers and woke her every hour to make sure she was alright. By the time the sun came up Darcy was properly cranky and warned him that if he woke her up once more she’d slap him. He smiled devilishly and encouraged her to do so which made Darcy laugh and roll her eyes.

Later, when morning sun turned to afternoon light, Loki woke to find Darcy wrapped around him. One of her eyes was swollen and red and puffy, as was her bottom lip, and if Loki hadn’t already done away with her attackers he gladly would have killed them all over again.

She slept peacefully, curled around him, and no matter what lay ahead for them Loki could not bring himself to regret seeking her out the previous night, for it led him here, to her arms.

_Stay with me_ , she had said.

Loki intended to. For as long as she would have him.


End file.
